Final Out - (Germany) Day 525

 Guest lodging entrance at Patrick Henry Village

This morning PT formation was at the PHV bowling alley parking lot, so I was able to get up and walk over there in my ACUs. The few that were there were doing a ruck march around PHV. I checked in and then headed back home…after a pit stop at the shoppette to pick up some coffee. We no longer have a coffee machine…one of the last things to get tossed from our house. When I got back home, we ate breakfast and got ready for the day. I then took down our bedroom curtains and gathered together all our bedding materials. All this stuff went straight to the trash, which is unfortunate. The recycling center closed down and we can't fit all of that into our luggage, so it all gets thrown away. We then did a quick sweep around the house and spot cleaned a few things. I unhooked our internet and phone, then threw the router and phone away as well. Both devices were 220v so we can't use them back in the states, and I couldn't find anyone who wanted them here.

We put our suitcases right outside our door and hung out until the housing inspector came by at 0845…the moment of truth. Now is the time we see if all our hard work cleaning every nook and cranny of our house really paid off. The inspector came and literally did a 30 second check of everything along with our appliances. He then checked to make sure we still had all our assigned keys and proceeded to have me sign some papers while he signed the required clearing papers. We were all done in well under 5 minutes…holy cow! It went a lot easier than I thought it would.

We waited on a co-worker to bring the TMP and then loaded up all our luggage and transported everything to guest lodging (the army hotel on post). We were allowed to check in early which was nice, this way we didn't need to store our bags and check in later at 1400 when they usually do it. I headed off in the TMP to the out-processing center and finished up my final paperwork there. I also picked up our plane tickets back to the states. They were supposed to email them to me, but I hadn't received them yet. I stopped by the internet provider and cancelled our service and then the bank where I turned in some rolls of coins that had accumulated during our time here. A quick stop by S-1 to drop off copies of all the final-out paperwork and then I was done for the day.

My co-worker dropped me off at guest lodging and I hung out with my wife for the rest of the day. We at dinner at the local restaurant on post "The Village Grill" which happened to be the first place we at dinner here when we arrived a year and a half ago. We've now come full circle and will be heading to the airport tomorrow. We could have stayed in guest lodging for free until our flight out on Sunday, but we decided to get a hotel at the airport for our last two nights here. That way we can get out and see Frankfurt if we want, we won't have to deal with any army base issues, and most of all we will not need anyone to drive us up to the airport very early on a Sunday morning…instead they can drive us on a Friday instead and get out of the office for a while.

Saw these on a tree outside guest lodging (the army hotel) and it made me smile

Spring Clean-Up - (Germany) Day 481

A view of all the crap that people just leave behind. 

During spring cleaning it's all put next to the curb for 

the bulk garbage man to come collect.

This morning PT was at Campbell gym in civilian clothes. It's "Regimental Week" (whatever that involves), so there were actually only 4 of us there for the formation. The rest of the people were doing a run somewhere far away. I'm just glad they didn't make those of us on profile go and watch or something stupid. I'd rather at least get a workout on my own, which I did…cardio on the stationary bike.

This morning after getting ready, I took my wife to work and came back home. Today is our building's spring clean-up and everyone that lives in the building is supposed to show up at 0900 and help out. I don't mind because I get to wear civilian clothes and I don't have to go into work. We ended up moving a lot of stuff to the curb for bulk pickup to come get. There was a lot of stuff left in our building from various people that move out and just leave their crap in the attic or basement common areas. They don't want to ship it and they are too lazy to move it to the curb for bulk pick-up themselves. Sometimes I think that army families may be some of the laziest I've ever met.

We moved all the crap, took some BBQ grills over as well and then used an outside vacuum to pick up leaves and debris around some of the stairwells in the back. The place looks 100% better now and we finished by 1100. I'm scheduled to do this all day, so I just hung out at home until about 1400 when I headed off to cancel our cable TV (the service isn't that good and we don't ever watch it...one more thing I can cross off my PCS checklist). I then picked up my wife and had her drop me at the TMP office. I had to pick up a TMP for tomorrow's drive with the chaplain. We're leaving at 0630, so I needed the TMP at my place to leave first thing tomorrow morning.

The rest of the day was spent doing some schoolwork and then watching the original Rocky. It's been a long time since I've seen that movie! I forgot how slow it takes to get going.

Garbage Day - (Germany) Day 432

This morning I arrived to PT at Campbell gym only to find out that there was a miscommunication and I do not have a PT test this morning. That was only for SPC JayZ who has to do one as a prerequisite to WLC. The normal folks went for a run off post in civilian clothes, while the profiles worked out in the gym. I rode the stationary bicycle and had a moderate workout. I didn't bring my headphones because I thought I was going to be taking a PT test…so I just couldn't get motivated on my bike.
It's Monday and that means garbage day. I met up with the supervisor and went over everything he wanted done. I started out by myself, but after about a half hour PFC Ski from the ComSec office showed up and joined me. With his help we were able to get quite a bit done pretty quickly. I had lunch with my wife and then finished up the regular garbage detail. Special duties today included taking down some advertising that some locals put up on the outside of one of the post fences (not allowed), and driving around the modified golf cart doing a police call around some fields. We finished up around 1430 and I headed home to rest a bit. I got a call from my medboard liaison here and she told me I will be heading to Ft. Lewis and will report on July 9th. This is good news and relieves a lot of stress from my shoulders. I will now be able to see my kids, my family and my friends back at home while I'm going through the medboard process.

I picked up my wife from work and then headed into town to meet up with a classmate from high school. It's crazy, but a person from my small town high school now lives and works in Heidelberg. We met up for dinner and chatted about how he ended up here…pretty crazy.

Check That Box - (Germany) Day 406

This morning for PT we formed up on PHV and those not on profile went on a run around the post, while those of us on profile headed to the gym. PT here on the same post where we live saves a lot of time, and I can't say that I don't mind heading into the gym to workout and listen to my headphones. I rode the stationary bike for my cardio today and I was able to get home in time to get ready at a normal pace instead of rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I arrived at my office and saw the computer was still not there, I was hoping the tech would have returned it ready to go by now. I gave him a call and he said he was still working on it…makes it tough to get much done. As usual I brought my textbook so I could read and do schoolwork. When the chaplain came in later on, I made some phone calls and ran some errands for him. I then left early before lunch and headed to the hospital, I was told yesterday by our CAM that I was due for another immunization shot and I had to get it done asap. When I arrived and told the immunization clinic at the hospital, they looked up my record and said I'm fine. I had them print off proof so I could take it back to the ComSec office and show them. It seems our company's records are a little out of whack. I headed home for lunch after leaving the hospital.

On my way back to my office, SGT Mex called and said our CAM wants me to come back to the ComSec office today and do more of the mandatory online training. So I spent the last half of the day doing just that and I was able to finish quite a few. It seems that they are rushing me now to get them all completed. Everyone else has had weeks to do them all, and I haven't even had a computer to do them on while at work. At 1700 I left and headed back to my office to lock up, and finally to my surprise my computer was there. It seems the tech finally got around to getting it working now. At least now I can do the mandatory training in the comfort of my office, and catch up on the over 190 emails I saw that are now in my inbox. The chaplain has a ton of stuff for me to work on as well, so I think I'll be a pretty busy guy at least for a while.

Garbage Trio - (Germany) Day 404

This morning I took my wife to work, then headed to my shift as garbage man. To my surprise there were three of us. There was a person from the dental office as usual, but there is also another woman who is getting kicked out of the army. So she is now doing the AIC detail (post cleanup…garbage man) on a daily basis. This made cleanup go very fast, the other two took the truck and I took the modified golf cart. They hit all the major garbage cans and the big stuff, and I hit all the playgrounds and also just drove around looking for miscellaneous trash along the roads. I was surprised how many little playgrounds there are here on PHV. You get a different view when driving the golf cart around behind buildings and such, I ran into at least 3 playgrounds that I didn't even know existed. There wasn't too much garbage around because it's still pretty cold for kiddos to be playing around, but there were plenty of little bags full of dog poop in the garbage cans…people still have to walk their dogs around.

I finished up about 1130 and then met my wife for lunch after changing into civilian clothes. The supervisor said from now on I can just wear civilian clothes every Monday when I'm pretending to be a garbage man. This is nice because I can wear hats that cover my ears to keep them warm, I can also dress comfortably and I don't have to worry about saluting officers…I can just do my job. I headed home after lunch and did schoolwork. The supervisor said he'd call me if he needed anything else done.

After some schoolwork after a quick nap, I started coordinating this weekend with some folks from work. We want to check out the carnival festivities in Köln. While chatting with SGT Mex he said our CAM is still waiting on all my mandatory online training…I told him I was picking up garbage all day. I wish they would actually give me some time once I actually have access to a computer. I also heard that my orders are already in, so I'll have to swing by there tomorrow and pick them up. I should then have a time frame of when I'll be moving to Wiesbaden…then I can kind of plan out my summer.

Surprise Garbage Duty - (Germany) Day 350

This morning I headed into my office as usual, I spent the first half hour just doing schoolwork (reading my textbook). I figured it's a great way to start the morning, drink some coffee and get some reading out of the way. The chaplain doesn't come in until about 0830 or so…so I have a little time to kill. At about 0830 I got a call from SGT Mex and was told that I have to do AIC detail. AIC detail is basically post cleanup…a.k.a sanitation engineer…a.k.a. garbage man. It doesn't surprise me that I was picked to do it, but I was surprised that they told me so late in the morning.

I quickly left and headed home, then promptly changed into an old worn out uniform and my old boots. I arrived at the AIC office here on PHV and along with another guy, we were told that along with the normal cleanup we needed to get some furniture out that someone put in a dumpster. We headed out and I knew something was up with this guy because he was a PV2 (E-2), but looked older. I found out that he got into some trouble about a year ago and has been basically sitting at a desk doing nothing everyday. He volunteered to do the AIC detail everyday in order to give him something to do. He was an MP and while out drinking a buddy of his beat up a German, putting him in the hospital. Even though the guy wasn't actually involved in the fight, he didn't stop it, so he went from a specialist (E-4) to a PV2 (E-2). He is barred from reenlistment, which means that he can't gain his rank back…he's stuck at a PV2 until he gets out. All from an unfortunate night out drinking. His buddy that actually did the fighting is in jail…I think he said for 5 years!

So we checked all the garbage cans around post and picked up any large items people left out. We then headed to Patton Barracks and checked their garbage as well. We found the dumpster in question and were able to get two large recliners out of the dumpster. This required me to jump in and help push them out to him. Luckily there wasn't much else in the dumpster. We finished off the day by checking the garbage at the shopping center and then taking it all to the recycling center on PHV.

We were done by lunch and I was released for the day. I met my wife for lunch and then headed home and finished my reading for school. I took a little nap, and then the phone rang. Unfortunately I have the only key to my office…and they need to do an inventory check of the computer and printer in there. I had to drive in and bring the key to them…from now on I'll just pick it up in the morning and drop it off each night before I leave…no more surprise phone calls. I had come in my workout clothes, so I just hung out a bit in the office and then headed over to the gym. I was told today is cardio day, so I rode the stationary bike once again and did a little core work on the machines before leaving. I like having this PT schedule after work because we get a longer time in the gym and I feel like I get a better workout. I also get to sleep in a little…I hope we keep it this way!

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Germany) Day 340 & 341

A view out our window of the new snow

Saturday: Kind of a lonely weekend for me without my wife here. I just cleaned up the house and did laundry all morning, video chatted with my wife and then watched TV until the evening. I met up with SPC Mac at about 1930 and we headed to the bowling alley here on PHV. We had a few beers, played darts, some pool and then watched the SEC football championships…all the typical bar stuff. It was cool to just get out and do something and try to forget about all the drama that has been going on in my life lately. There ended up being a couple others from our platoon there and we all had a good time just hanging out. The game turned out to be pretty good and I didn't have to worry about drinking and driving because we walked there…a good night.

Sunday: A pretty relaxed day, I didn't do much of anything except hang out and watched some basketball on TV. It snowed quite a bit…the first time this season. I try not to think about everything that is going on with the investigation and all, but it's hard not to dwell on it. I did have a chance to video chat with my wife for a bit, it will be nice having her back tomorrow.

Getting Counseled - (Germany) Day 308

A picture I took on the way to work. I hear fall cleanup is coming soon

and we have a lot of trees that loose their leaves on PHV!

This morning for PT we formed up for accountability, then stretched for about 3 minutes before being released. Because everyone in the formation has a PT test tomorrow, they didn't want to do any sort of a workout. I'm not gonna complain, I was able to spend some extra time with my wife this morning and get ready at a leisurely pace.

At work this morning we were all told to "scrub" our folders. Scrubbing our folders includes taking each of our customer's folders and checking all the paperwork in them. We have to make sure they are all up to date on their briefings and everything else is in order. I spent most of the morning going through mine and contacting the people that need to get their briefings updated. There were a couple other minor issues, so I documented everything and then filed them all away. I then had to add some more ComSec inventory to a safe. Of course once a safe is opened, we had to take a full inventory of the thing.

I headed home for lunch again today, not to run any errands, but because we had some good leftovers I wanted to eat! Back at the office I spent the rest of the afternoon surfing the web. The megastorm "Sandy" is dominating the news as it pounds the east coast. Usually I don't look at job postings, but just for the heck of it I checked out some, it's good to know what kind of qualifications they are looking for, so I can make sure to be ready by the time I get out.

We cleaned up around 1630 and while we were waiting to be released, I was called back into the vault. The new NCO was told to give me my monthly counseling. My boss is still on leave and everyone in the office needs a monthly counseling. It doesn't matter if it's a quality counseling, it just needs to be done. So this NCO that doesn't know me at all has to give me a counseling for a month of work, and he doesn't know a thing about me really. He has me sit with him in the vault and starts talking to me to try and get to know me a little. He basically has to get enough information from me, so he can write up a counseling statement. We chatted until 1700, then he released me…everyone else had left earlier. I couldn't care less about the counseling, for others it lets them know their strengths and weaknesses. It gives them a course of action to improve and a path to strive for to become a leader and an NCO. I played along and let him give me the pep talk. This is just another one of those things that are making sure a box is checked so everyone's happy, just like all the crappy army training we are required to do.

Another Town Hall - (Germany) Day 255

The going away dinner for SPC Whirlwind and his family

at the Schwetzingen Brewery

This morning was just one of the many many times that just reaffirmed my decision to get out of the army after my current contract is over with (I think I must say this every other post). We were told we had to be at the PT formation at 0550 because we were doing a battalion run. The season has definitely changed here in Germany, and even though the day may still end up being warm, the mornings are getting a lot colder. We were told to wear our long sleeve PT shirt with our shorts, but it was still pretty cold. We formed up and stood in formation for at least a half hour…just standing there, waiting…standing and freezing. Finally everyone got formed up and ready to go. The leaders came to the front and started the getting everyone stretched after having those of us on profiles head to the back. The sergeant major then came back and asked each person why they weren't running. He made all those on "run at your own pace and distance" go back and join the group saying they had to do exactly that…run at your own pace and distance. The rest of us walked to the gym and worked out.

When we came back the leaders stated how they thought the run was great and even some of those on profile did a good job keeping up. On this point I have to disagree. If a person feels they can indeed do the run, then by all means let them do it. I think there were some that were pressured into doing the run even though it meant running through the pain. Doing that is just stupid. If your body is in pain, it's trying to tell you something…and just ignoring it is going to make it worse. We then had to hear a safety brief from the battalion commander for the weekend. It contained the usual…don't drink irresponsibly, don't beat your wife, don't do stupid things. He then asked the battalion command sergeant major if he had anything. Of course he does, he's an NCO…so he adds his input, which is almost exactly the same thing (drink responsibly, don't beat your spouse, don't do stupid stuff). We then get released to our company commander who in turn gives us his safety brief which is all the same stuff. He asks our company first sergeant if he has anything to add…of course he does! He then proceeds to say the exact same thing. We're standing out in the cold listening to the same thing over and over and I'm thinking I'm going to go nuts just watching the time go by and my available time to get ready shrink by the minute. It's this kind of stupidity that I absolutely hate about the army.

Everyone had until 0930 to be at "Days of Excellence" which was being held on PHV at the theatre. I of course have to get ready a lot faster than that, because I take my wife to work by 0830 each morning. I then had a knee exam scheduled today before we found out about the Days of Excellence, so I was allowed to keep my appointment. I headed to the appointment, which was great…that meant I was going to miss "Days of Excellence"! The knee exam was a huge disappointment though. My doctor just moved my knee in a couple directions and said oh there's no ligament damage. My X-Rays show a little degenerative evidence on my knee cap, so she said I'm just getting old and I have to deal with it. I know something's not right with my knee, it's throbbing every day now and I can't even keep it in one position for a long period of time without being in pain. Then at random times I have shooting pain…but it's all just because I'm getting old and I have to deal with it. There has to be more that can be done, I was a little frustrated leaving there. I did get some pain medication refilled, but that stuff doesn't seem to do much of anything.

I headed home and changed into my uniform (I had to be in PTs for the knee exam). I grabbed a snack and waited a little bit before heading to then end of "Days of Excellence". For those of us that live on PHV, we went to a Town Hall meeting on the closure of the base. It was open to anyone and they went over pretty much everything we already knew, PHV will be closing by August 30th of 2013. Sometime between now and then everyone will be moved to their gaining units. Most of it will be done after June because they don't want to interrupt those with children in school. The other message put out was that everything they do this year will be the biggest and best ever…they want to go out with a bang. Unfortunately the meeting went until 1300 and I was starving! When we left we were released for the day. As we all headed out the sergeant major was there and told everyone to go back in and get a flu shot. I ended up pretending to go back in, but then headed home instead. The problem with flu shots are that I don't really believe that they protect you from the future flu season. Also we will be required to get one at a later date and have it recorded in our records, so those who went back in to get their shot are likely to be required to get another one in the near future.

I headed home and ate lunch. I then headed into the office in civilian clothes where I met my boss. I had to print off a couple items to take to class this Sunday. I then headed home and took a nap. I passed out and didn't wake up until I went to pick up my wife at 1600 from work. Later on we met up with my boss and a few other people from the office. We headed out to a brewery (and restaurant) in Schwetzingen, a city only a few minutes away. It was basically an unofficial good-bye to SPC Whirlwind and his family. We all had some good food, good beer and good conversation.

Another Day…Another Town Hall - (Germany) Day 254

Watch Out!! MPs on patrol....

mounted on Segways with Training Wheels...LOL

This morning we went back to our usual PT here at PHV. The normal folks went for a run, while us profiles headed into the gym to do cardio. I did the stationary bicycle and had a decent (no impact) workout.

The morning started off at 0900 as usual. I tried to move my dentist appointment scheduled for 12:30 this afternoon because SPC Whirlwind was having his going away party. The dental folks said they could move my appointment no problem, but since I was calling within 24 hours of the original appointment, they would mark it as a missed appointment and inform my command. I guess there has been a big issue with people missing their dental appointments. So big in fact we see stupid commercials about it on AFN. I thought calling would solve this problem, but I didn't call soon enough…so I had to keep my dental appointment and miss SPC Whirlwind's going away lunch.

I hung out on the "other" side of the office this morning (the maintenance side). Since we only have two computers on our side and they were taken, I decided to interact with they guys on the other side instead of sitting in a chair, looking at a wall. I basically sat on the other side and read the latest copy of the Army Times. All the NCOs were at a "town hall" meeting with brigade. When they came back, all the junior enlisted had to go over and attend. It was basically just a dog and pony show with them telling us how great they are, how great we are, how great the army is.

After that I left for lunch. I just headed home for a little bit before going over to the dental office. I didn't want to eat anything before they cleaned my teeth. The cleaning went fine except I really hate the scraping of the teeth, it's like nails on a chalk board. I then went back home, made myself lunch and ate it before heading back into the office.

Once in the office I uploaded some more documents to my DTS account for this next class I'll be heading to on Sunday. I did hear the SGT Mex will be coming as well, that is a good thing. I checked out Facebook and noticed my sponsor (when I arrived here in Germany) posted that he is going to be out in 97 days. He then went on to say: "only in the military can we take a person with the ability to cure cancer and make him a lawyer. The army sets you up for failure, tries to dictate your career path based on the last 4 of your social security number and please pray that nothing happens to you where you can no longer run a 14:40 2-mile. I realize that I'm too outspoken and have too much common sense for the military. And if I go to my next job and ever hear someone say 'you should be ready to do (insert task here) any day at any time', I'm quitting and walking out."

Needless to say, I'm not the only one that doesn't quite understand why the army does the things it does, and how it can drive you nuts. It's basically the reason I have no desire to stay in past the end of my contract or the desire to get promoted and be an NCO.

We didn't do much the rest of the day, took the new safe combinations over to secure in another office's safe and then cleaned up the office. We were able to get out about 1630. I gave the new guy a ride home after picking up my wife and some gas as well. I filled my motorcycle gas tank up and warmed it up a little. I even drove it around the parking lot a bit to get it's juices flowing. It's the only riding I'll be able to do for a long time I'm afraid.

SPC Whirlwind and his family came over for dinner and we were able to have our own little goodbye dinner with them. They are a great family and will be missed once they leave.

Lumberjack - (Germany) Day 232

One of "the branches" that we had to pick up during AIC detail

This morning PT was cardio in our summer PT uniform. I'm not exactly sure what the "normal" guys did because us profiles and special pops folks left to the gym before much got started. They placed a specialist in charge of the PT formation for the regular guys. The guy wasn't even ready for it, he was just told to get up there and do it. I know they want to give the younger enlisted a chance to do this sort of thing, but at least let them prepare and be ready for it. Also they should make sure that the person is someone who wants this experience…who wants to get promoted. If they forced me to go up there, I'd be pissed off, luckily I'm on profile and just do my thing in the gym…no impact…inside…with my headphones…the way I like it.

On my way into work I got a call from our platoon sergeant telling me that I have to go to do AIC detail. I was going to get my dental appointment taken care of this morning…the one that is due on the 30th of September…the one that they said I had to get done before my pass for the end of August will be approved. So now I can't do the dental appointment, instead I get to go play garbage man on PHV and clean up after all the pigs. So I dropped my wife off at work and turned around and headed back to PHV.

I had one helper, a PV2 from ironically enough…the dental clinic. We went around and did the normal cleanup of the garbage cans and the messy playgrounds. I swear parents here just tell there kids to just leave all their trash on the ground because we'll be around to clean it up eventually. There are usually small garbage cans located all over the playground, but nobody really cares. I think that part pisses me off the most. I don't mind cleaning up all the trash out of the cans, but all the random trash laying all over the place just pisses me off.

We then were told we had to pick up some "branches". I put that in quotes because when we went to take a look, we found what looked like entire trees that had fallen. Somehow this now became our job to pick up and take to the recycling center (where we take all the trash and waste as well). We did our best to break apart the branches as much as possible, but ended up loading a huge piece on the TMP. I was a little worried if the MPs saw me driving with this crazy long "branch" on our TMP I would get a ticket. I drove slow and had my hazard lights on…I also drove the long way around to stay away from the MP station. When we arrived at the recycling center they gave us a saw and told us to cut it at least into three pieces before putting it in there…having a saw would have been nice before we loaded it.

We were then told that we had to pick weeds…WTF? I was already a little pissed and that was just too much. It was like we had extra duty and we were being punished. Screw that! I took lunch and let them know that I had my physical therapy appointment to go to afterwards. It's days like this that just adds to the reason I will not be staying in the army after my contract is up. At this morning's formation our platoon sergeant was stating all the required training that needed to be done by everyone. He also went through all this other non-work related stuff that needs to be done. I joined to do my job…Information Technology Specialist, but it seems nobody really does their job…there is always other crap that needs to be done. I just shake my head and keep trudging along.

I ate lunch at my house…nice get to watch TV in my underwear (it was hot out and I needed to change for my physical therapy anyway). I then headed to my therapy appointment and did the usual…core and neck work, then the shock treatment with some neck massage afterward. Always feel good after that!

I headed home and caught up on this blog…(had to take a few days off because of my kids leaving and the 4-day), then finished watching UFC 149, which turned out to be a little of a disappointment all around. Most of the fights were slow and drawn out, then won by decision. I picked up my wife from work and after dinner we watched "The Grey". It turned out to be a little slow, my wife actually fell asleep. Staring Liam Neeson it's about survival after a plane crash in Alaska. The movie was "OK", but nothing special. I think I was just expecting awesomeness with Liam Neeson in it...no worries though, I'll send it back via Netflix and wait for the next movie to arrive.

A Long Day - (Germany) Day 218

This morning's PT was on PHV, but everyone from our office just showed up in ACUs for accountability. After formation I road in to work with my boss where I ate breakfast at the food court. I then surfed the web waiting for the shoppette to open up at 0800 so I could get coffee. Everyone headed in early because of an upcoming CIP inspection next week. They just had me come in early with them because they didn't want me to do PT by myself.

I then spent the time checking emails and then all our customer's account folders. SPC JayZ is on leave, we have two guys out-processing, and another clerk just left on TDY to Italy. I would have gone to Italy, but chose not to because my kids are here…a great opportunity though! Anyways that leaves basically just me to handle all the accounts. I was supposed to go through all the folders and see if there was anything that needs fixing  (i.e. missing signatures, missing memos, correct dates, etc.)

The entire morning SGT Mex kept heading to the bathroom about every 5 to 10 minutes. The first time out he exclaimed that he just "crapped out 1.5 liters of liquid shit". SGT Mex is currently on the overweight program and is about to get weighed tomorrow. He's gone down a few pounds each month, but really wanted to pass this time. So first thing in the morning he took some sort of colon cleanser or something and was not eating anything all day. He went so often that everyone just started avoiding the bathroom all together. It was pretty funny because some of the times he had to get up and start running towards the toilet!

I headed to the food court for lunch and spent my time reading my book and eating lunch. I waited until the last second to go back into the office. I have mentioned how much I disliked going into the office, but today I realized how much I just really hate going in. When I had to head back a wave of depression washed over me. I'm not sure why even. The job is not difficult and most of the people I work with are good people, but I just hate it. Maybe it's just all the stupid stuff I have to deal with. I hate that I'm doing a job I didn't sign up for. I hate the lack of common sense in almost every aspect of the army. Despite all that…I slowly made my way back to the office.

I sent out a couple more emails and surfed the web. I've ended up using Twitter quite a bit more. Not because I tweet at all, but because I can subscribe to a number of news outlets back home and nationwide. It gives me a lot of stories to read all in one place, and helps pass the time.

I then helped SGT Mex with some paperwork. It was basically just typing up some memos, but at least it was doing something. We got off at 1700 and headed home to eat and quickly get ready for a movie. My girls have been waiting and waiting for Chernobyl Diaries to come out and when it finally had a date here on PHV it turns out they were sent the wrong two reels, so the show was cancelled! So to make it up to the kiddos we bought them ice cream and headed home to watch a movie…."From Dusk 'til Dawn" an interesting classic from Quentin Tarantino. The movie is so out there, it's funny. Everyone was thinking…what the heck is going on here???

Side Note: With the late nights and the kids I've found myself a couple days behind...I'll be catching back up soon!

Back to Work - (Germany) Day 217

The view of Heidelberg from Königstuhl

This morning's PT was on PHV. Everyone came in civilian clothes and went on a run off post. The profiles headed to the gym and we worked out on what we were allowed to. I had a great workout…reminded me of the end of my time in Korea when I headed to the gym and just did my own workout almost every day after work. I hope that I could start doing something like this everyday.

I headed straight to physical therapy instead of work and had a good session. I wasn't in a lot of pain to start with and the shock therapy with the neck message and chiropractic manipulation, I felt pretty good leaving the place...as always.

By the time I got back to work there was about a half hour before lunch time. I checked email and surfed the web a little before heading to my car for the lunch break. As usual I have come to enjoy my lunch break in my car. It's an escape from the office and I get to listen to music, relax, read my book and usually take a little nap.

Back at work I surfed the net for a bit, then spent most of the afternoon placing pages into a binder. These were all pages from past ComSec newsletters…really exciting content that I guess they want to save and store. So now we have newsletters dating back a couple years.

We got off at 1700 and after going home and changing, we all headed off to McDonalds for dinner…LOL. This was our first time actually eating at the local McDonalds here and I have to say the food was pretty good. I had the "Texas Nacho Chicken" burger which was just plain awesome! I'm not sure if they have that back in the states, but if they do…give it a try. I don't eat at McDonalds too much, but I have to say I was very impressed with this sandwich.

The whole reason we went to McDonalds was to get a quick meal and then head up to a place called "Königstuhl" which is about 15 minutes away. It is up at the top of the nearby mountain (hill) and I read that you can get some great views of Heidelberg from the top. Once there and got out, we walked around and explored some nature trails (on accident) while looking for the view point. We found the view point and checked out the nice scenery for a bit…then headed home. The place is great for a little get-a-way, and next time we'll plan a little better and wear some actual shoes instead of flip flops.

Independence Day (2-Day Holiday) - (Germany) Day 191 & 192

A view of the setup at PHV for the 4th of July...lots of vendors and lots of people

Wednesday: We were not able to sleep in as much as we thought we would be able to. The kids are still a little off because of the jet lag and were all up pretty early. In fact they had already had cereal for breakfast and were watching TV by the time we got up.

We hung out and took it easy for a while before making a run to the commissary, then off to SPC Whirlwind's house for a BBQ. We then headed off the the center of PHV to check out the setup for the 4th of July. At the center there was a stage with a band playing and vendors all around the outside. Across the road in the bowling alley parking lot there were a number of games and rides that you see at your normal town fairs. The weather was a bit hot and my kids were still a bit jet lagged, so we headed back to the house to let them rest until it was closer to fireworks time.

We headed back out to see the action near dusk and watched the fireworks show along with some guys from my shop. It was a decent show along with music, which had to be selected by a Star Wars fan…because there several selections were from Star Wars movies during the show.

Thursday: We again took it easy today. My wife had to work, and the rest of us basically just stayed in. The weather was too hot and melted my kid's desire to head outside. We just stayed in and watched some movies. "Iron Man" and "Drillbit Taylor" were the selections as well as some home made movies we made from our previous vacations…always fun to look back on.

We headed over to the skate park on post and watched my son scoot around on his razor, then headed back to the house for dinner and a family movie…"Jumper".

The two days off were nice and it leaves just one day of work left before the weekend!

The Kids Arrive - (Germany) Day 190

This morning's PT was muscle failure. I was able to do a lot of the exercises, so I got a pretty good workout. We went from one exercise to another and the only things I couldn't do were sit-ups and jumping jacks, but there were plenty of others such as push-ups and such that wore me out.

At work I checked my email and surfed the net a bit until 1100 when I finally got up and left for the day. I headed home and ate lunch, then headed off to the Frankfurt airport to pick up my kiddos. I think I was just a little too excited because I ended up getting there a good 2.5 hours before they landed. I spent the time reading my book and pacing back and forth waiting for them at the gate. Finally the plane landed and I continued to pace back and forth at the gate like a caged lion. Every time I saw a blond person my hopes would rise, only to be dashed when I realized it wasn't one of my kids.

At last they all came out…almost the last ones. We paid 90 euros for a chaperone that never came, so my kids kind of wandered around eventually figuring out where to go. I'm going to have to see about getting my money back on that one. Right now I'm not mad though because I'm just so happy to see my kids. I haven't seen them for 6 months now and it was an awesome reunion.

We took off from the airport and they were a little amazed (like I was when first driving in Germany) about how fast people drive on the autobahn. Once back at the house we all went out for dinner at The Village Grill (the restaurant here on post). One the way though I had to stop at my supervisor's house. Since we have a two day holiday in the middle of the week, I had to sign a counseling statement stating that I will not get into trouble. That's too bad because I planned on getting in all sorts of trouble on my days off, but now that I signed a silly piece of paper I'll have to be a good little boy.

We didn't plan a lot for the kids first night here, just the dinner out and watching a movie to wind down the night. My kids love movie nights with me, the only problem is picking one out that everyone agrees on…tonight's flick "X-Men: First Class". You can't go wrong with an X-Men movie. My oldest was asleep before the movie started, my middle child was asleep within the first few minutes and the youngest stayed awake for a good hour before succumbing to jet lag.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Germany) Day 187 & 188

Seen while driving in Heidelberg...even being stationed in a "friendly" country, 

there are still plenty of locals around that do not care for a base full of foreign soldiers.

Saturday: We didn't do a whole lot today except clean house and make a shopping run to Ramstein Air Force Base. This particular base has a huge PX and a pretty big movie theatre as well. Unfortunately there wasn't anything good playing.

Sunday: We did even less today than yesterday…just did laundry and made a big grocery shopping run to prepare for my kids coming this week. We watched a lot of TV shows and listened to music. Since it's the beginning of the month I also did my budget and some maintenance on all of our computers. I say all of our computers because I have a main tower desktop, my wife has a laptop, I have a laptop, and we also have an older iMac in the kitchen that we use for recipes or playing music. I also started playing around with my blogs a bit. I'm in the process of importing all the entries from my time in Korea now.

Since not a lot has gone on this weekend I thought I'd spend a little time talking about McLovin. I've mentioned him before and he's a pretty funny guy. He's about to become the guy that people will talk about for a while in our unit because he will have literally eaten his way out of the army. Since arriving in Germany he's gained over 60 pounds. There was an incident (that I won't go into details with) but needless to say it involved alcohol and a loss of rank on his part. A lot of people think the incident was not fair and from the stories I've heard, he really got the shaft. Since that point he stopped caring at all about his army career and decided he wanted out of the army. He gained enough weight to fail the weigh-in twice and is now in the process of getting a general discharge from the army. Right now he's out-processing and will leave Germany in the next couple of weeks. His humor will be missed around the office and especially out on the FTX, he always made me laugh and boosted everyone's moral.

Weekend Wrap Up - (Germany) Days 145 & 146

Me and my wife in front of the Worms Cathedral

Saturday: Ahhh…so nice to sleep in! After waking up and getting ready at a leisurely pace, my wife and I headed off to the Rhein-Neckar Harley Davidson store. I needed to purchase a battery for my motorcycle because mine was totally dead. My bike has been in storage since basic training and found out the battery would not even take a charge. The store is about 20 to 25 minutes away in a town called Ludwigshafen. Once there I asked if the lady at the parts department spoke English and she said only a little. I was able to tell her what I needed in German and it all worked out. Luckily we also had an extra VAT form. This is a form US folks can use when buying something on the German economy and they take off the tax which is 19%…so with any big purchases it's really worth it. We ended up getting a couple t-shirts and headed off with a new battery. Now once I take the motorcycle safety course, I'll be able to ride my bike here in Germany.

By this time we were getting a little hungry and wanted to grab a bite to eat while we were out. We punched in what we thought was a place to eat in our GPS, but ended up in a town called Worms. It wasn't where we were expecting to be going, but we made the most of it. We parked the car downtown and headed to the city center. We ate at a bakery and then had some ice cream at one of the vendors. The town had a huge cathedral which we decided to explore. The cathedral was pretty cool. We walked around inside checking out the various sculptures and then around outside admiring the architecture of this ancient building. It's awesome to be able to just stumble upon something so grand.

We headed home and spent the night watching TV shows and relaxing.

Sunday: This morning we went to church for the first time here in Germany. One of my co-workers was having his son baptized. His wife is a local national, so the church was of course a German church. It was an interesting experience attending church in an entirely different language. I would catch about every 4th or 5th word, but that was about it. We watched the baptism and then we headed back to Patrick Henry Village for a barbecue that my co-worker was throwing. Most of our office showed up, as well as my co-worker's wife and her family. Good food…good people…good times.

After feeding our faces and visiting for a while we headed back home and video chatted with family for a bit before relaxing and watching some TV shows…..a good weekend.

You can check out more photos from our accidental trip to the city of Worms:

Created with flickr slideshow.

No IT for You - (Germany) Day 36

The light dusting of snow we received this morning

This morning I got ready for PT and when I looked out the window I was surprised to see a dusting of snow everywhere. This didn't stop our PT formation, but we did have PT inside (in the racquet ball court) and they also cancelled the scheduled PT test that some in our company were scheduled to take. Our PT this morning was PRT (Physical Readiness Training) which is the newer method of conducting PT and the same method I did in basic and AIT. A lot of units are still working it into their PT schedule and there is a lot of resistance because a lot of soldiers do not think it does much for them, and a lot of others just think it's pretty gay. I was just glad we were inside because it was freakin' cold outside.

Once finished with PT, I was dropped off at my place and had to make a somewhat quick turn-around to get ready and leave. We had to be at the office before 0900 and then head to some training session in our battalion conference room. We arrived in plenty of time and then made our way to the conference room only to see it filled with another meeting. After waiting a bit we were told to come back at 0930, so we all head back to the office and hang out for a bit before heading back. We wait…and wait…and wait, then at almost 1000 we're told that it has been cancelled and to go back to the office. A great waste of time.

In the office we have three machines that are inoperable because they are being migrated to Windows 7. One is a sergeant's machine who is on leave and two others are in our main office, which leaves only one computer for 6 or 7 people. It's great that the army is finally rolling out Windows 7, but however the way they are going about it is pretty bad because the computers were down all last night and all day today.

My big job today was to find a big unused binder and take a huge stack of papers (the entire manual for PRT), then use the 3-hole punch on them before placing them all in the binder. The entire time I was doing this I kept thinking to myself what the heck am I doing? Here I am taking a few sheets of paper at a time, punching holes in them, then placing them in a binder. This has become the extent of my job. I'm a highly qualified I.T. technician with management experience who wanted to serve his country thinking my talents could be put to good use…hold on for a second I have to punch some more holes…I have a number of technical certifications, I have years of experience working with computers…hold on I have some more holes to punch…OK you see where I'm going. I can't believe I'm doing this job, this is such a joke and waste of my time…definitely not anything I had envisioned when I joined the army. In fact I think my previous job in Korea was better. Yes most of it was setting up meetings and serving coffee and water, but at least I was the IMO and I fixed a computer problem here and there. I had the "demigod" card with all the admin rights to all of our computers. People came to me with computer questions all the time. Here…I punch holes in paper and stick them in a binder. Oh yes I also have a lot of paperwork to look forward to doing once I learn the "real" job here…that is all it is…paperwork. I really can't believe I'm in this situation right now. I have no motivation or desire to stay in the army past my contract date, I have no desire to move up past the rank of Specialist. I don't want more crap duties and responsibilities placed on me while still not doing the job I signed up for…..Wow, enough of that…enough complaining…I just had to get that out.

Lunch today was a quick one at the food court and then I joined the guys in a room adjacent to our office that houses a ping pong table. The guys here play a lot of ping pong during their lunch break. I joined in and quickly realized that I was outgunned. Mind you before this moment I thought I was a decent player. I had just come from Korea and I beat two Asians while I was there! In my mind I was even more than decent…I was the great white hope! I stepped up to the table and across from me was a ginger from next door (43rd Signal HHD). We started playing and as I was running all over the place hitting balls everywhere, the ginger calmly stood in the middle of the table returning everything I sent at him. The guy was like Forest Gump! He used all kinds of spin and speed and at the end of the game I counted myself lucky to have even scored 2 points!

The afternoon went by pretty quick, I watched SPC Whirlwind give another security brief to some customers. I will be doing this soon. The first sergeant came in and went over some counseling statements that the NCOs where giving. I am supposed to have an initial counseling soon, but I think my boss has just been too busy. AT 1600 we all started getting into our dress uniforms. We are a mixture of the Class A's (the old green uniform) and the ASU (Army Service Uniform - the newer dress blues). For some reason mine felt a little tight…I'm not sure why :) I still had to finish getting mine ready, then when it was time for me I was docked on my shoes being a little dirty and finger prints on some of the buttons I had just put on. It feels nice to have a couple more ribbons on it though. Last time I wore it I only had the three given to everyone in AIT (Army Service Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism, & National Defense Service Medal). I added the Korea Defense Service Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon. Not much, but it looks a little better.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Germany) Days 12 & 13

The trash and recycling stations for each of the stairwell units

Saturday: Today we had thought about venturing out and exploring the city of Heidelberg, but the weather changed our minds. It was raining and pretty much a miserable dreary day outside. This naturally kept us inside our new place with my little laptop as our entertainment system. It's strange living with just the bare essentials. We have whatever we could pack in our two suitcases and the few things we picked up at the recycle center as far as dishes and cookware go. We also have the loaner furniture which I'm grateful for. There is a place called The Lending Closet which has quite a bit of stuff we can take out on loan, but the problem is that it's located at another part of the post (the shopping center). My wife was making chili for lunch and went to open a can of beans only to realize that we don't have a can opener…d'oh! I had to walk to the commissary and purchase one. It will be nice once all our stuff arrives.

Since we were staying inside we decided on watching Sons of Anarchy. I have all the seasons on my computer and we sat down and completed the first season, then made a dent in the second. It's a great series about the daily lives of folks in a motorcycle club.

The only other major event happened when there was a knock on our door. Strange…we don't know anyone yet that lives here. I opened it to find who I'm going to call the recycling Nazi. He announced himself as the supreme stairwell floor commander...or something to that affect. He said he found a number of recyclable items in the trash. We learned at in-processing that Germany takes recycling to the extreme. We had been separating the usual suspects such as plastic bottles. We also had a large bag from our recent trip to the PX and it had a few things in it that are supposed to be separated, such as Styrofoam. Each stairwell of the housing have six units in them. Each of these stairwells also have a designated trash/recycling area. In order to throw anything away or recycle, you have to take your house key and use it to gain access. Needless to say we are going to have to do a better job of separating our recyclable items.

Sunday: Today the weather was a little better, but we decided not to travel outside of the post because there is not much open on Sundays in Germany. Instead we did the usual…watched some TV shows. We decided to get out for a bit and take a walk around PHV. The post is not that big as we found out during our walk. When we first arrived, I was a little disoriented and had no clue how to get anywhere. It was nice to get out for a bit and walk around, it's the only exercise I've been able to get since arriving here. We were not quite sure exactly what was available on PHV until recently. PHV as I noted earlier has a commissary, a movie theatre, a library, schools (elementary & middle), a restaurant, a shoppette, a bowling alley and a youth center. There isn't too much else besides housing. I originally thought there was a PX here as well, but unfortunately I was mistaken. For everything else we have to travel to the various other posts that are scattered around town.

Wondering how I was going to get to the central processing tomorrow, I emailed my sponsor. He has to teach a security+ class all week next week, so I knew he would not be able to pick me up. I received a call later from a sergeant in our battalion. He asked if I'd been to a PT formation yet…no. Do I have all my winter PT clothes…yes. Then he asks if my sponsor was the only way I got to and from in-processing last week…yes. A long pause…then he states that he thinks he'll just give me some time with my wife in the morning and call sometime tomorrow to let me know who is going to pick me up. So I guess I'll wait and see.

The rest of the night we video chatted with family and watched some more shows…a pretty laid back weekend.

Moving In - (Germany) Day 9

This morning we had planned to walk from our temporary room to our new place with our remaining bags. Once we started getting ready we could hear the wind howling outside and after taking a look my wife asked if I could call our sponsor and have him come pick us up and drive us over to the new unit. I didn't argue with her because not only was it very windy, it was also raining. Not that the rain bothers me much being from Seattle, but having to bring all our crap with us in the rain wasn't too exciting for me. After talking to my sponsor he said no problem.

We arrived at the new unit right after 0745 and the inspector was already at the door waiting. Luckily he hadn't left yet. Once in we went over everything with the inspector and found that the dishwasher does not work. He also marked the minor scratches on the floor and checked everything else out in the place. When trying to show us the storage in the attic and the basement he found that we had a key to another unit's basement storage and we had no place in the attic. I guess we have to go to housing and get that squared away now.

My sponsor arrived again to take me to more in-processing, so I had to leave and let my wife sign any papers. She also had to wait for our loaner furniture to be delivered. I headed off to in-processing and prepared myself for another day of "Death by PowerPoints". We had a number of briefs including Drug & Alcohol, Fire Prevention, Safety, EO, EEO, IG,  OPSEC, Crime Prevention, & CID. Lots of acronyms I know…the day mainly consisted of people telling us to be careful, don't drink and drive, don't sexually harass others, and don't do drugs. There was a girl next to me that kept nodding off which was actually a little entertaining to watch…LOL.

The briefings ended at 1500 and my sponsor picked me up and drove to our new place to pick up my wife as well. We then headed to the PX and then the PowerZone to pick up needed supplies for our new place. Without any of our household goods, we had to buy stuff like curtains, shower curtains, coffee maker, microwave, bed sheets and blanket + pillows. After blocking the checkout lane long enough to start pissing people off (why they only had one lane open I don't know) we headed back to our new place…our new home.

I went about getting the cable modem hooked up and the Internet connection up and running. I have my priorities! I then put up all the curtains so we could have a little privacy and then sorted out all the rest of the stuff we purchased. We settled down for a bit and had dinner while watching Sons of Anarchy.